Tag: Donald Tusk

British Prime Minister Theresa May on Thursday agreed to an EU offer of a six-month delay “flexible extension” to Brexit, EU Council President Donald Tusk said. “EU27/UK have agreed a flexible extension until Oct 31. This means additional six months for the UK to find the best possible solution,” Tusk tweeted, at the end of a summit in Brussels.

China on Tuesday said it would push further to open its economy and deepen ties with the EU, which has grown increasingly wary of Beijing's influence in Europe. EU Council president Donald Tusk hailed Beijing's new commitments at an EU-China summit in Brussels as a breakthrough with both sides committed to globalization and pursuing international rules.

British Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday started a last-minute flurry of European diplomacy that includes visits to Paris and Berlin as she prepares for a make-or-break Brexit summit. Still struggling to get her EU divorce deal through parliament, May is hoping European Union leaders will agree on Wednesday to delay Brexit for a second time to stop Britain crashing out of the bloc two days later.

Theresa May has written to European Council president Donald Tusk requesting an extension to Article 50 until June 30. The Prime Minister said she will seek to ratify her Withdrawal Agreement before the European Parliament elections on May 23, but will make “responsible preparations” to take part if that does not prove possible.

European Council President Donald Tusk is proposing to offer the UK a 12-month flexible extension to its Brexit date, according to a senior EU source. His plan would allow the UK to leave sooner if Parliament ratifies a deal, but it would need to be agreed by EU leaders at a summit next week.

Members of Parliament have rejected Theresa May’s EU withdrawal agreement on the day the UK was due to leave the EU. The government lost by 344 votes to 286, a margin of 58. It means the UK has missed an EU deadline to delay Brexit to 22 May and leave with a deal.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she will fight for an “orderly Brexit” until “the very last hour”. Mrs Merkel said that current events were in a “state of flux”, adding that European Union leaders would try to react to whatever the UK proposed. The UK is due to leave the EU in 10 days' time, with or without a deal.

European Council President Donald Tusk has said he will appeal to EU leaders “to be open to a long extension” of the Brexit deadline, if the UK needs to rethink its strategy and get consensus. His intervention came as UK MPs voted to seek a delay of the 29 March deadline to leave the EU. EU leaders meet in Brussels on 21 March and they would have the final say.